"Where is Linux the most popular, and where are the different Linux distributions the most popular?". Pingdom has taken a stab at answering this question using the Google Insights for Search. Read on for our observations on the results.

There are some acute comments below the article itself, pointing out that it's so hard to get accurate data that these results shouldn't really be seen as more than very broad brush. It's safe to say that more people use Linux in Cuba than they do on the Greenland ice shelf, but if you become too granular about what and where then the facts are increasingly dubious. In addition, the article only looks at Western-sourced distros. What about local ones of the Red Flag Linux kind? Knowing a bit more about them might help to explain the figures.

In a comment that caught my eye, one person suggested that part of Red Hat's success in some parts of the world may be down to their certification and qualification programs. In other words, in some countries folks see Red Hat as a way to get yourself a qualification and pull yourself up in the world. That is a very interesting and powerful idea, and a way for other distros like Ubuntu to give themselves an edge.

Plenty of ironies here, anyway. Utah's products are most popular among former commie countries. Red Hat is more popular outside the US than inside it. Ubuntu's stronghold appears to be in Italy and not anywhere in Africa. Debian is very popular in Cuba but I wonder how many Cubans Debian has on the roll as devs.